15
votes
Accepted
Circuit breaker adjustment
Conventional residential circuit breakers are safety devices that are not subject to adjustment. They are sized based on what the wires to the outlets can safely handle.
As you surmised, if you want ...
- 33.6k
13
votes
Accepted
Can I mix AV and Power cables in the same raceway?
Those rules apply to building infrastructure. Typically "inside the walls" but also surface-mounted conduit and related infrastructure.
If your "raceway" is nothing more than a ...
- 31.9k
6
votes
Accepted
What type of screws would work best for hanging a projector from the ceiling?
I'm assuming your projector isn't terribly heavy, so...
2 1/2" gold construction screws should work fine to hold the board to the joists. I also like to use decking screws because of their strength ...
- 27.6k
5
votes
Accepted
How to get cable staples to stick in the wall
Nail in clips just will not hold in drywall. Even over studs, the nails are typically too short to get good penetration. Nail clips and stapes can still work (barely) in drywall if they are used up ...
- 27.6k
5
votes
Best setup for 5.1 speakers in room
Yes there are guidelines for how to place the speakers. E.g. here is a Dolby 5.1 placement guide. But the short answer is A, B, C, F, and E in your diagram, if you have to pick from those exact spots.
...
- 14k
5
votes
Accepted
Is it okay to plug a surge protector strip into a surge suppressing power outlet?
The "don't put a surge protector on a surge protector" rule is not about the surge protection, it is about overloading circuits and tripping over wires - which really doesn't apply here. I would treat ...
5
votes
Running cables for a home theater: inside walls and ceilings or on the surface?
This problem is most easily addressed by surface mount wireway. Rather than run exposed cables, you attach a fairly innocuous plastic or metal rectangular cross section wireway/duct/conduit that ...
- 191k
5
votes
Can I mix AV and Power cables in the same raceway?
What you're missing is a hidden receptacle behind the TV
Most of these competent installations provide only one in-wall raceway for signal cables - that is true.
However, what is not so apparent is ...
5
votes
Accepted
My AV rack (metal) is close to the grounding rod & my receiver/projector frequently get fried
Grounding is almost never the enemy.
The ground rods being nearby has no bearing on the equipment. Electricity doesn't know anything about paths it can't take. It can't go even 1 foot through ...
4
votes
Circuit breaker adjustment
This is inconvenient as we use room heaters at night in the bedrooms we use to save on electric bill.
Electric resistive heat is the most expensive way to heat a home. If your central heating method ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
Pictures Covering Home Theater Speakers
Googling "acoustically transparent fabric" returns a variety of companies that provide materials that advertise the characteristics you require. For example:
https://fabricmate.com/fabric/acoustic-...
- 606
4
votes
Can a multi-meter be used to test home theater receiver speaker output?
Yes, flip the meter to "AC". You should detect a fluctuating AC voltage when sound plays. Some amplifiers also put a DC bias on speaker circuits, you can check for that too by flipping the meter to "...
4
votes
Accepted
How to remove in wall speaker grill/frame
On some speakers the grill part, not the bezel or frame of the grill assembly, but the actual grill with the small holes in it is pressed into the bezel/frame.
You take a tool with a point small ...
- 13.5k
3
votes
Circuit breaker adjustment
If you can't increase the wattage available in the rooms (which requires running more circuits as others explain), apply the heat more tactically. Heated blankets or mattress pads can provide more ...
- 161
3
votes
What speaker wire should I use to extend the length?
I would just install 14 gauge wire, it will be more than adequate at 30 feet.
Look for a reputable brand that's made for audio and rated CL2 for in-wall installation. Any decent speaker wire will ...
- 24.9k
3
votes
How to turn a cut component video cable into coax?
OTA DTV antenna cable is commonly RG6 (replaced RG59). This is a 75 ohm coaxial cable with an F or BNC termination (probably F). The better quality component video cables use 3 separate RG6 cables ...
- 1,539
3
votes
What type of screws would work best for hanging a projector from the ceiling?
For most projectors (not that heavy these days), you can (depending where it needs to end up relative to the joists) put a single piece of wood that's wide enough for the projector mount screws and ...
- 191k
3
votes
Any fabrics that block visible light without blocking IR/Bluetooth?
Unless you get metal lined material or mirrored glass doors the radio won't have an issue. And to be honest even if you did it would probably still work fine by going through the wood or whatever the ...
- 131
3
votes
Accepted
Any fabrics that block visible light without blocking IR/Bluetooth?
Visible-light blocking IR-passing "black" plastic (plexiglas, etc) is very common, found in almost all IR receivers. Finding a sheet of it might be a bit more work (and let's not make this a shopping ...
- 191k
3
votes
Why are most of my cable/coax wires disconnected?
Because you only hook up what you have to, to avoid signal loss. If you're serious about getting HD to all your jacks, you should probably look into getting a powered splitter.
Otherwise, you just ...
- 13.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Is it okay to connect a subwoofer to two devices with a Y cable?
I tried that exact same thing back in my younger years and found out that the signals definitely back fed into each other and weakened the signal going to the subwoofer. Whether or not it would have ...
- 76.9k
3
votes
Home theater audio setup for a projector
Running speaker wires is not hard. Because they are low voltage, they are not subject to the same safey-based constraints as regular AC "mains" wiring. You can run them externally along ...
3
votes
How can I make my AVR remote work while I'm about 100’ away from AVR?
You already mentioned it in your question, it's an IR (infrared) "extension" or "repeater". There are dozens of models available, find one that does what you need (extends for 100 ...
- 4,380
3
votes
Is my power consumption measurement tool broken?
I think 50W standby is outrageous, but the largest US cable company's cable box used to have that much alone.
Ecnerwal's "wake up" theory is the best answer in my book. The problem is, ...
3
votes
How to connect a soundbar Philips TAB5105/12 to Philips LCD-TV 42PFL3604H/12?
The cable you bought is for a combined headphone and TOSLink output to regular TOSLink [headphone jack with LED at the back of it - seen on (at least) Mac laptops and some MiniDisc players.]
The ...
- 191k
2
votes
How to get cable staples to stick in the wall
The routine I found works best when a customer insisted that I use this particular wire clip, is to replace the nail with one of the same gauge, but a longer length. I only replaced the clips that ...
- 10.9k
2
votes
Can I run electrical cable and sound cable in the same conduit?
The current induced in the speaker wire will not be noticed. If it were an input cable it would be different. Speakers wires are after the amplifier so the interference will not get amplified. The ...
2
votes
Why are most of my cable/coax wires disconnected?
My guess would be that each room had coax wires routed to a common panel, and that there are wall plates in each room, or possibly that the wire was left in the wall. Coax cable is cheap, and if your ...
- 5,088
2
votes
sound absorption material for home cinema
I was just told recently by someone who took a class on something involving building sound absorption panels, that recycled denim material makes an excellent sound deadener.
He said to wrap the bats ...
- 19.7k
2
votes
Any fabrics that block visible light without blocking IR/Bluetooth?
See if you can get IR filter glass. Used to be a ?Wratten 87? filter would screen out most all light except for IR. We used to use those with IR film and it would even "muffle" strobe flashes - you'...
- 181
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible